Posted tagged ‘health inequalities’

Bodyproject contributes to a debate led by the Social Marketing Network posing the question…Is there a policy response to the human element of looting?

“…I’m troubled by this discussion as I don’t understand half of it – not sure what a ‘broad scope behavioural insight driven intervention framework’ is. I’m not being overly critical or rude – I just don’t know what some of this debate is about and it may be me being ‘thick!’

But what I do know having been out and about in some inner city communities over the last few weeks is that we have a large number of people who are feeling very disenfranchised and that our society is badly failing in parts.

I think the present political and public service structure is badly broken. We have a Government that seems to be making it up as it goes along, a parliamentary committee structure that could have been more use in Arthur Miller’s portrayal of Salem, a judiciary thrashing around, the Police impotent in the face of new criminal and crowd behaviour (from responses such as kettling to surging – neither has worked) and a public sector DNA that is just so wholly lost in its own process and procedures it has little chance of influencing change.

The people I have spoken to are very angry. They are heavily in ‘victim’ mode and are just observing consumerism dangled in the their faces (the haves and the have nots). They constantly hear and see and perceive corruption, greed, abuse of power and have just lost faith. Austerity and deficits mean nothing to them it just means they pay a heavier price. So in the end when faced by what John describes they are going to be compelled to grab what they can. Ultimately, I don’t think there is a policy response as how can you legislate for good versus bad. Its the old saying of actions speak louder than words and shadow of the leader. What we need is a clear vision for our society and the values articulated. Then we need people who are in leading positions to start to show the way. But from football to banking, politics to media, those that can afford to have holidays to those who cant, health inequalities to etc etc etc – its a huge challenge…”